Introduction
The weight loss industry is worth an enormous amount of money with women being the target of advertisers. It is important for those intending to go on a diet to question their motives and ask themselves, "Am I doing it for myself or am I being fat-shamed into doing it?" It is important to just be happy being you before you consider changing anything in your life because unless you are content there will always be something that you need in order to be happy.
Just be yourself
The human race is like licorice all sorts, you never know what you are going to get. There are as many personalities as there are people and there are a variety of shapes and sizes. It is therefore to accept who you are but at the same time change what you can change.
You may have no control over your build but you can choose what you put in your mouth. You may have no control of what talents you have been given but you have control over what you do with what you have been given.
The world puts unrealistic expectations on people and especially young women. They are expected to look as glamorous as those who appear in the glossy women's magazines. Is it any wonder that so many women suffer from low self esteem?
If women think that they have too much pressure on them to look as fabulous as a Hollywood star, many of them expect men to have the perfect physical body. Let me tell you my story:
I have always been skinny; all through my life I meet women from time to time who say "You're too skinny," and so on. Once a young lady was telling me about her boyfriend and how he looks after himself. He had a good physical body. She was having a dig at me. At the time I was jogging six miles+ per day and was competing in athletics every weekend. Sometimes on both Saturday and Sunday.
As with all of the comments that have been made about me being skinny I have never taken offence nor suffered from an inferiority complex or low self esteem because of it. My shape has never bothered me. I have just accepted it as who I am.
But...
I can understand why women would have their self-esteem attached to their weight when there is so much pressure on them to have a nice figure, but what they are really doing is living to please others rather than accepting who they really are.
It is important to accept who you are and not let your body shape determine your self worth.
You shouldn't allow comments by others to determine your self worth either. If others cannot accept who you are then that is their problem not yours.
The bottom line is that you can only live your life according to your own circumstances and not compare yourself with others because it will be similar to comparing apples to pears.
Your value is not determined by what others say about you. It is not determined by your dress size, or by your achievements. You may see the achievements of high profile sports people being applauded on TV but this will all pass. There are thousands of unsung heroes whom society takes for granted but they do their work day after day without complaint and without even a modest round of applause.
My suggestion is to focus on a "healthy eating" mindset rather than a "lose weight."
It is far easier to achieve a goal based on what you eat and how much you eat rather than it is to lose weight.
Like all things in life worth striving for, losing weight takes effort and sacrifice and only you can decide whether the outcome was worth it all.
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
Robert Stewart has a site www.loseweightnz.weebly.com with information about the keto diet. Feel free to share this article, post it on your blog, use it as content for your ebook, or to do anything you wish with this article without any restrictions.
INTRODUCTION
The weight-loss industry is a huge one worth billions of dollars annually but there is more to your well-being than what you eat. Your own self-esteem can be more of a factor than you may think. If you can work on this then dieting and weight-loss will become easier.
Self esteem and Weight loss
Did you know your own self esteem may be a contributing factor to some of your problems?
Let's look at weight loss for example.
We all know that the weight loss industry is a multi billion dollar per annum business and who do the advertisers target?
Women!
In order to encourage women to join their weight loss plan they highlight their insecurities in their advertising copy.
"What insecurities are these," you may be asking.
You may have heard of the term "fat shaming."
Women are shamed into feeling guilty even if they are just a few kilos heavier than last year.
Is it any wonder that so many of them suffer from insecurities.
My advice to women is this:
1 Stop comparing yourself with others
It is silly to try and be somebody you are not. Instead of trying to be someone other than yourself you must ask the question, "What makes me tick,?" and set your goals accordingly.
2 Do it for you and not for others.
If you are taking on a new diet do it for yourself and not for others. Don't be a people pleaser and try to impress others for the sake of it.
3 Your value is not measured by your dress size.
What makes you unique is what values you. It is what you do with what talents you have been gifted that gives you value. It is important to use your talents for the benefit of others. That is real value!
4 Ditch the "If only," mind set.
Many women and men for that matter think, "If I lost xx amount of weight, got a new car, a better house, had a new husband/wife, or whatever then I will be happy."
Life does not work that way. Joy comes from within and has nothing to do with outward appearances or the opinion of others. Many people after they have acquired what they thought would make them happy are still not content with their life. The novelty soon wears off then they have their eye on something else.
5 Work on your self-esteem.
It is important to work on your self-esteem otherwise people are going to push you around.
The key is to be assertive and not allow unkind comments to affect. Assertiveness is not just sticking up for yourself. It is recognising the television advertising for what they are; to make you want to buy their products.
I am not saying you should not go on one of these diets but to do it for the right reasons.
The bottom line is that a low self-esteem will undermine your dieting plan.
How?
Have you heard of the expression "Comfort eating?"
Enough said.
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Healthy lifestyle and weight loss
Setting a goal to lose weight has its drawbacks. It is hard to measure unless of course you set a goal to lose xxx amount of kilos in xxx number of weeks or months.
The problem with a goal such as this is that it lacks definitive action.
It is easier to set a healthy living goal.
Then you can decide on the steps you are going to take to achieve your goal.
A healthy living goal means eating more healthy foods and becoming more physically active.
That does not mean that you have to go all out and become a fitness freak overnight.
It is important to take small bite sized steps so that your body can get used to the changes.
Focus on the healthy lifestyle rather than your waistline.
Which task is easier?
To lose weight or to change your diet.
Focus on actions rather than the outcome as the outcome will be a product of the actions.
When I was involved in athletics and training, I had my goals such as to beat my personal best times in the middle distance and road races but my focus was on what I had to do to achieve those goals. I was not going to achieve personal best times unless I trained for it.
The elite athletes performing at their best at the Olympics make it all look so easy but what you see is the results of years of hard work and sacrifice. It all requires focus.
The key to all of this is passion. No one can put their bodies through all of this discipline unless they have passion for what they are doing. It is passion which powers perseverance.
As an athlete I was not blessed with an abundance of talent but made the most of what ability I had to perform at my best.
What has all of this got to do with losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle?
It is about living your best life.
An unhappy, unfulfilled life is going to sabotage your efforts to lose weight because you will always find an excuse to comfort eat if you are trying to lose weight or miss a days training if you are involved in sport.
The bottom line is this: If you do not look forward to getting up in the morning then changes need to be made.
Think about what you used to enjoy doing when you were younger. Is it possible to take up some of these old interests?
Getting involved in something you are passionate about will get you off the couch and away from the TV and that can undermine your healthy living goals if you don't keep it in check. Remember the old saying "Use it or lose it."
Taking a balanced approach to life is the way to go when working on living a healthy life.
Making changes to your life means making changes; if it is your weight you would like to change then the Keto Diet may help (no guarantees). Check it out below:
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How to get into the right weight loss mindset
1 Making changes to your life whether it be losing weight, getting fit, or whatever should be something YOU have decided upon and not something you think you should do or something others think you should do. "Should" is a finger pointing word which suggests that you in some way are not good enough. Learn to think for yourself and make your own decisions.
2 Do not compare yourself with others. Just be the best at being you. Wishing you had someone else's physical attributes will only lead to frustration and unhappiness.
3 Find your enthusiasm for something and it will focus your attention on something that makes you happy. Being engaged in some activity which you enjoy will take your mind off yourself. Ever seen an introverted person who may be reserved in social settings yet open up when engaged in something they are passionate about?
4 Don't base your life around what others may think. If you do you are giving them a license to rule over your life. In short you will become a people pleaser.
5 Ditch the "If only" mentality which says, "If only I lose this amount of weight I will be happy." If that is your mentality then what will happen next is that if you achieve whatever you thought would make you happy then that "If only" will be replaced by another one.
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